Two-pass high-pressure reactor



' July 21, 1953 R. L. JACKS ETAL Two-PAss HIGH-PRESSURE REACTOR Filed May 21, 1952 Tick-i Patented July 21, 195 3 r rwoirss s nrouszrnnssnnsnnncronf 1T" Robert L'.- Jacksand Gipson 1 career; Baton i Rouge, La.,assi gnors' to StandardyOit Develops.

f ment Cfor'npanya: corporation. 0i? Delaware ApplicationMay21,;1952, sesame, arm

This. invention. concerns a novel; fo m. o hi h.

pressure. reactionv vessel, providing for the twopass uni-directional. flow or materials. through the reactor; I.he:apparjatusthis inv nti n is particularly characterized. by he mple xpensive andeffectivev fabrication of the reactor. internals. The 'inventionfis'. Q particular application. to the conversion of; ajsin Z01 high" pressure. reactor. to a. two-pass uni-directional flow reactor.

At... the. resent time, nqthe on refining andj chemicalindustries,.1a great many processes necessitate. use ofv extremely highv pressures. High pressureprocesses impose serious problems of apparatus. fabrication suitable for sustaining, the

Figure" r-diag rammatically illustrates; a pres fer-red" form; or" the inventionin cross-sectional elevational detail; along line; I-I" of Figure 2.

Eig ure 2 illustrates in oross-sectiom'along theline II-II" f' Figure l, the particular arrangement ofthe central partition member and the upzones,

V particular process according toeonventionalengineering practices; At either end of the tubular member l"- closure members 2,}, 4, and 5gare prohigh pressures requir.ed., lItis. the ;purpo'se. ofthis.

invention. topmvide. a. novellform ofIhigh pressure I reaction. vessel whichisuniquely simple and inex pensive to construct. This objective is achieved by utilizing a massive elongated; tubular element as. a hig h icpressurev shell. ,Within this. high pressure she1l,,thin-walledpartitions are usedto providethedesiredtwo -zone.system includin provision. for uni-directional. flowth'rpueh the two zones,

' r A- reactor embodying theinv riti n ispart eularly luseful. inaconverting a. single zone. single pass. reactor for the. purposes, of, this. invention.

Thus, in. accordance with. this..inventiolth.thin.-.v

walle ,v strueturaHv-weak parti ions.- may be em,- ployed. to provide. the. twoezone hi h, pr ss re. systenri.v

The present-.inventionis also of particular. ailpiication to. processes. requiring hea exch n e duringth conduct of theprocess.v Thus. theahparatus. ofthis invention includes. provisi n. fo

insertion of heating. orl cooling coils. both. O

the twozones of the. high pressure system. It becomes practical thereforetofeither heat or cool a given stream of, reactants at. any portitm of the flow path, through. the twozones of the reactor.

In large part the advantages of. this. invention. reside in the. practicality of, assembly. Thus theapparatus: configuration. employed enablesuse. of. a tubular reactor of limited size preventingaperson from. entering.- the: reactor to: assemble. com- I ponentpartsthereof. This feature. isiparticularly importantl'in considering application of the. a-ps.

paratus to a process requiring beds of packing material or solid catal'yst in difierent portionsot the reactor. g 1

s The nature.ofijthis invention and the manner in which the objeetivesidentified are achieved may be understood from the accompanying drawing, in which:

v of" the tubular opening within shell I'.

flew conduit; to provide the two highpressure- Referring to the; drawing, the massive elongated tubularmemberj l provides the high pressure Tubular V sustaining element of the apparatus. member 'I is constructedflin a manner to permit safe utilization of the pressure required ina videdin order; to seal of feither and both ends" 7 Eaclrof the closure members land 3, if desired; maybe provided withv threads so as to mate with and.

seal within either end of the. tubular shell. while members 14'; and" 5" may be bolted in. position.

As described heretofore the shell, l,.with suitable-closure'rnembersyat either end; provides a single zone reaetion space'within the cavity there ofi It. is apparent that a reactorflof this nature is. eonv ntii nally used'ior. h h pressure reaction systems. Suitable flow inlets are ordinarily provided through each of'the. closure members to pe mi one-pass. operation. I a co a with the present .inventi0n;.an apparatus of. this. char.- aet r fi e by nelnsion. and; ut l zation. he reins. a lements. Qt'th drawin A thinrwallesi sle ve. mem er 6 onstruct d to fit'closelywithin thecavity of the shell" I. As wiltbe apn rentsleev member 6 is not subje ted to. hiehpr ure stre s-so hat. e; ma erialand; construetion. of sleeve figis' not critical. Preferahly's eeve 6.should;extendsu sta tialh rr nrthe b ttom. tov the. t p. or: the shell I. in. the. snare mi ed by the elosur members. adividinapartien. pr ierabhz i-se ts the e o cav y nd issealedto either side ofsl'eevefi. This partition is shorter than the sleeve 6 so as to terminate, within either end of; the. sleeve 6.. Again, partition is not; exposed to high pressure stresses so that the fabrication; of this partition isnot difli'oult; The partition may" be held'inposition bysuitablebraces extending from the shell '6 as illustrated; 'The lower endofpartition I is joined to a plateel'ement; j8-which is; sealed to sleeve 6' so as to seal oft one of thebi-seetedl zones withjnee efi E r' h s purposes. b ank may beweIded.

topartitiqn- T and sleeve- Behaving a. semircircular I then. endptthe reaeton supports 9 are provided to accommodate a second blank iii which may be removably positioned to similarly seal the opposite semi-circular portion of the reactor. Thus, supports 9 may constitute welded extensions of the partition I and sleeve 6, leaving an opening of substantial size. The blank 56 may then be fused to block'this opening; by

bolting or welding this blank in position when required. As will be seen, provision for insertion or replacement of the top blank i is an important feature of this invention.

Finally, a conduit ii is positioned along partition and is passed through this partition at one end thereof so as to provide conduit openings adjacent to each of the two blanks. Thus, as illustrated, the conduit H canextend from the lower portion of the left-hand zone of the're actor, adjacent blank 8, upwardly through the top of partition I to a point just below the upper blank 9. Structural support for the conduit H and the. partition? may conveniently be provided by suitable braces 12 extending from one or both sides of the shell 3.

The apparatus illustrated in Figuresl and 2 thus simply and eifectively provides for two-pass uni-directional flow of reactants through the high pressure reactor. Reactants, for example, may be brought into the reaction zone at the upper portion thereof through either or both of the Reactants will then travel downinlets 13 or I l. I wardly through the left-hand zone of the reactor, upwardly through conduit II, and down- .wardly through the right-hand zone of the re The reactants or products of the reaction. may then be removed through a withdrawal pas sage at the lower portion of the reactor. They actor.

is particularly useful in a process of this character. I

For this type of application, at least a pair of upwardly extending conduits 20 and 2! are sealed to suitable passages through the lower closure -member 4. These conduits may be inserted in position as upwardly extending pipe members prior to insertion of the shell 6. After insertion of shell 5 agooseneck pipe connection 22 may be passed through ,an upper portion of partition '5 so as to extend downwardly in the left-hand zone of the reactor. If desired, the gooseneck pipe connection 22 may be welded to pipe 20 and may be Welded in the partition I to maintain fluidtight conditions. Flange or union-type connections are preferred, however, for ease of removal. Thereafter the upper blank plate It may be insorted in position to seal oif the two zones of the reactor as formerly descibed. By this method of fabrication, pipes of the character described may be. used to terminateat any desired portion of either of the two reactionzones. This makes possible the introduction of desired cooling fluids at any localized points within the reactor.

The reactor is also well adapted for insertion of solid catalyst or beds of packing material. Suitable supports for perforated grills may be provided in either of the two zones on the partition and the shell 6. After placement of perforated supports, packing material or catalysts may be deposited in the reactor from the top prior to installation of the blank plate 20.

In the apparatus described it is particularly desirable to seal. the sleeve 6 with respect to the reactor shell i atat least one endn Thus,.for example, sleeve 6 may be welded to shell I at the uppermost portion of the sleeve. This provision eliminates the possibility for by-passing of reactants in the limited annular space between the sleeve 6 and the shell i. It is to be noted however that this weld is not imposed to high pressure stress.

, As described therefore, the present invention concerns a form of high pressure reactor in which light-weight, thin-walled partitions are provided in amassive pressure resistant shell. The partitions described are So arranged to permit convenient insertion while permitting utilization of heating or cooling coils, solid packing material, and the like. The reactor is constructed to prevent possibility of Icy-passing or leakage of the reactants from one zone into the other. parent that the reactor may be employed either for upflow or for downfiow usage, with the same direction of flow prevailing in each zone. ,The reactor is therefore particularly qualified for conversion of a particular single-zone highpressure reactor to a two-pass form providing twice the normal flow velocity and improved reaction control within a single high pressure vessel. In this connection it should'be observed that the advantages of this invention cannot be achieved by employing an annular partition member in place of the bi-secting partition described. Temperature control and problems of fabrication in an annular type separation obviate the advantages described.

What is claimed is: I

1. A two-pass,uni-directional flow, high pressure reactor comprising in combinationf a tubular pressure resistant shell having top and bottom closure members, a thin-walled sleeve memberfitting within said shell in close fitting relation, a partition member extending parallel to the principal axis of the sleeve and intersecting the walls thereof in fluid-tight relation, terminating at a spaced distance from both the top and bottom of the sleeve, a first sealing member extending from one'side of the partition to the sleeve at the bottom thereof, and a second sealing member extending from the opposite side of the partition to the .sleeve at the top thereof, and a conduit member extending through the partition adjacent one of said sealing members to a point adjacent the other of said sealing members.

2. The reactor defined by claim 1 in which at least one of said sealing members is removable.

3. The reactor defined, by claim 1 in which said top and bottom closure members include fluid passages to the said sleeve.

The reactor defined by claim 1 in which the said sleeve is sealed to the said shell at one end thereof.

5. The reactor defined by claim 1 in which at least a pair of conduits extend through one of said closure memberson one side of the partition at one end thereofand in which one of said conduits passes through the partition adjacent the opposite end thereof.

ROBERT L. JACKS. GIPSON L. CARTER. 7

No references cited.

It is ap-. 

1. A TWO-PASS UNI-DIRECTIONAL FLOW, HIGH PRESSURE REACTOR COMPRISING IN CNBINATION: A TUBULAR PRESSURE RESISTANT SHELL HAVING TOP AND BOTTOM CLOSURE MEMBERS, A THIN-WALLED SLEEVE MEMBER FITTING WITHIN SAID SHELL IN CLOSURE FITTING RELATION, A PARTITION MEMBER EXTENDING PARALLEL TO THE PRINCIPAL AXIS OF THE SLEEVE AND INTERSECTING THE WALLS THEREOF IN FLUID-TIGHT RELATION, TERMINATING AT A SPACED DISTANCE FROM BOTH THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE SLEEVE, A FIRST SEALING MEMER EXTENDING FROM ONE SIDE OF THE PARTITION TO THE SLEEVE AT THE BOTTOM THEREOF, AND A SECOND SEALING MEMBER EXTENDING FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE PARTITION TO THE SLEEVE AT THE TOP THEREOF, AND A CONDUIT MEMBER EXTENDING THROUGH THE PARTITION ADJACENT ONE OF SAID SEALING MEMBERS TO A POING ADJACENT THE OTHER OF SAID SEALING MEMBERS. 